Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128391
Continued from page 2' Team Suzuki MotoGP star John Hopkins was hobbling around the pits on a crutch at the X Games. Hopkins recently had surgery to repair the broken metatarsal that he suffered in a horrendous highside during the German MotoGP. "It was just mino.-surgery, nothing to worry about," Hopkins said. Hopkins also said that he digs Supermoto and would like to give ~ a go at an event like the X Games. "E~ way, Iwas going to be coming by here. I'm hoping to [race Supermoto] in the future ~ Suzuki or whoever I ride for in the future will let me." Ukewise, Red Bull KTM's Jash Hansen, who was also on hand, said: "It looks like it would be fun. I think this is the next big thing." Ust weekend, Joel Albrecht was racing Supermoto at the Shawano, Wisconsin, AHA Supermoto Championship round, but this weekend the forrner motocrosser donned the crew-chief cap for the Two Brothers Racing Suzuki effort of Steve Drew. "Steve was invited to participate, and Iwant to do whatever I can to help him out," Albrecht said. All of the Supermoto team crews were required to wear NASCAR-style racing suits in order to appear more professional for the ESPN television cameras, making for warm attire in the Southern California sun. Albrecht and the rest took ~ in stride, however. "It's going to be warm, but I like the look of them," Albrecht said. "We look like a professional race team. We've stepped ~ up to try to make ourselves look good, and I think we're going to stand out because of ~." Pit strategy was a key component of the race plan, and several teams, including Two Brothers Racing, devised a few tricks to make the refueling and tire-changing process go more smoothly. "We've been practicing at the shop," Albrecht said, "and we have a special axle wrench that we made to help get the axle nut off and on really easily. We've also glued the axle spacers in so that they won't fall out, and we've done a chamfer on the brake pads to help the disc slide in and out. We just want to do it clean. We don't want to tum a 30-second stop into a minute. We'd rather take our time and tum a 3D-second stop into a 35-second stop if something goes wrong." Not to be outdone by Two Brothers, Team Yamaha was sporting trickery in the form a stationary rear brake caliper that allowed the rear wheel to be swapped out more quickly. Jeff Ward said that he was feeling confident before the race but added that the pit stop was going to be crucial. "Things have to go smoothly," Ward said. "Ours have been about 2S to 27 seconds, and if we screw up. it's ]5. But the course is good. We'll see how ~ goes." In Ward's case, the pit stop wouldn't prove to be as crucial as the start_ Ward got caught up in the first-tum tangle with David Baffeleuf and Jurgen Kunze!. Ward ultimately finished 17th, two laps down. Besides team regulars Jeff Ward and Chris Fillmore, Troy Lee Designs Honda supported two additional riders - AHA Flat Track Championship contender Johnny Murphree and SCORE Baja off-road racer Mike "Mouse" McCoy - bringing even greater diversity to the X Games field. Murphree actually skipped a round of his series in order to accept the invitation. "The amount of exposure here was immeasurable," he said. "Even running around in the back of the pack here, I'm learning more stuff and meeting more people than I could have by winning Farley, Iowa [the round Murphree skipped]. This thing is aggressive, nothing like I'm used to, but I'm pumped that I even got invited to the thing, and I'd really like to finish in the top I0 to show how tough the flat track guys can be. But if that doesn't happen, I'm having a good time. It's just a super honor to be invited." McCoy was one of the riders on the alternate list who was able to take his place in the field after a few other riders were unable to compete. "I was going to do some other Superrnoto races with the Troy Lee Honda guys, and Troy said, 'Why don't you come down here? They'd love to have you,''' McCoy, the reigning Baja 500 Champion, said. "It has been a really fun weekend. The tracik is awesome. Learning the tires is the one big part of the learning curve, but I'm feeling good right now. I have a lot of respect for all these guys, but ~ I could land a top-10, that would be huge for me." Murphree did finish in the top 10, earning 10th place at the finish. McCoy also appeared to be on his way to a top-10 finish. He was moving through the field from 15th before blowing his engine on lap nine. Before the race, Eric Bostrom talked about the pressure of keeping the X Games tide in the family, as his brother Ben won last year's event. "Maybe there's a little pressure, but mostly we're just here to have a good time," he said. "I didn't really have that jump nailed coming into the stadium. It should be an interesting race. We've got small issues v,-ith bumps out there, but you're going to have that in any parking lot race. It's going to be balls-out. Everyone is going to go fast and see where they end up. There's going to be some anrnion, which there always is in any long race. We're just going to try to keep it on two wheels and keep going. If we get off the line well, I'll basically be unhappy with anything other than first." One of the lesser known entrants on the list, returning for his second X Games Superrnoto, was Gary Trachy, who finished 13th - the last man running at the finish - in last year's race. "It's a big deal to get invited back," Trachy said. "Hopefully, this year I can hang in there, ride hard and ride smart and be there at the end. But I am totally stoked to be here. This is the biggest Supermoto race so far." Despite showing excellent speed dUring practice, AHA Supemnoto regular Alexandre Thiebault was unable to compete at the X Games Supermoto. The Frenchman was the second alternate in the field. He moved to first alternate ilier leonardo Bagnis broke his hand, but the seeded riders all made the call for the main event, leaving Thiebault outside looking in. In light of his strong performance before his brakes failed, will we see Travis Pastrana back on the track at any future AMA Supermoto events? "We have to weigh it out," Pastrana said. "I was kind of curious to come here and try the new bike, and we're still off the pace a little bit, and this would have been the best track for me. It was funny because [Eddy] Seel and I were going back and forth, and it was frustrating because whenever we hit the dirt, he was so slow, but then when we hit the pavement, I'm sure he was like, 'This guy is so slow!' I still have a lot to learn on the pavement for sure." CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 17, 2005 23